Santa Clara University

Jay A. Pierson

Jay A. Pierson, baritone, holds a BME degree in Music Education from Olivet College and the MM and DMA in Voice Performance from the Eastman School of Music. He has performed roles with the Rochester Opera Theatre, Art Park Opera, Opera Under the Stars, Brighton Light Opera, Eastman Opera Theatre and has appeared as soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and North Carolina Symphony. He made his NY debut singing the role of Argenio in the premiere of Händel’s opera Imeneo at Merkin Hall and a subsequent solo recital at the famed Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Pierson has performed concerts and given masterclasses at the State Conservatory of Thessolonika in Greece, sponsored by the Fulbright Scholars Program. An active and published composer of vocal/choral music, Pierson has enjoyed numerous performances of his works in the United States and Canada. His CD, Ah! Love, but a day, (Art Songs and Spirituals by American Women Composers, released in 2001 by Albany Records) has received critical acclaim by Fanfare Magazine, NATS Journal of Singing, and American Record Guide. He can also be heard as soloist on the recording "Q", with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, performed in Davies Symphony Hall for their 20th Anniversary Concert. Former head of the Voice Department and Bucknell Opera Workshop at Bucknell University and former Associate Professor of Music at the School of Music at East Carolina University, Pierson maintains a private studio in San Francisco, is Assistant Director of Music at Old First Presbyterian Church and a member of the Santa Clara University Voice Faculty.